KVCC To Become National Wind Power Training Center

Kalamazoo Valley Community College will become a first-of-its-kind national training center for technicians who will work on utility-sized turbines clustered on wind farms and on the smaller commercial units similar to the one that was installed on the Texas Township campus in late January, President Marilyn Schlack announced this week.

Beginning in October, the Michigan Technical Education Center at KVCC’s Groves Campus will launch a 26-week training academy based on European standards for technicians to gain entry level employment working on the giants of the wind-energy industry.

At the same time, the M-TEC will become the United States work force development headquarters for Entegrity Wind Systems Inc. as it provides short-term training for its personnel across North America.

Schlack made the double-header announcement at the commissioning of Entegrity’s 50-kilowatt wind turbine that will begin producing electricity with the ceremony.

“The 26-week, non-credit academy will provide competency-based training for entry-level employment on wind farms that use utility-sized equipment,” said James DeHaven, vice president for economic and business development for KVCC. “This full-time program for 15 students per academy is clearly intended to initially train students interested in international job opportunities. This utility-grade training under the German certification will be the first by any college or university in the United States, and the second in North America.”

Added DeHaven: “This unique training model allows graduates to earn two career credentials. During the first nine weeks, participants will complete a pre-employment electrician apprenticeship program. The next 14 weeks will cover wind-turbine-technician competencies. The last three weeks will be spent in a practicum experience on a wind farm. Once hired, students have the opportunity to document the hours on the job to become a journeyman electrician and move them toward wind-turbine certification.”

The KVCC Wind Turbine Technician Academy will be certified by Bildungszentrum fur Erneuerebare Energien (BZEE). Its English equivalent is “Renewable Energy Education Center.”

Located in Husam, Germany, and founded in 2000, BZEE is supported by most major wind-turbine manufacturers, component makers, and enterprises that provide operation and maintenance services. As wind-energy production increased throughout Europe, the need for high-quality, industry-driven standards emerged.

BZEE has become the leading trainer for wind-turbine technicians across Europe.

"Graduates of the new academy will have the opportunity to earn individual certification through the BZEE and become a part of an international labor pool," DeHaven said.

As KVCC positions itself to become the first college in the United States to obtain BZEE certification credentials, the next step, according to DeHaven, is to identify two instructors -- one with a mechanical background and the other a schooled electrician -- to travel to Germany for five weeks of training in Husam beginning in April.

Entegrity’s national training program will educate their sales and service personnel in the marketing of its products, and to certify workers in the installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance of its 50-kilowatt, 145-foot turbines, one of which now towers over KVCC’s technical wing.

Entegrity’s main manufacturing center is located on Canada’s Prince Edward Island, but it operates a sales office in Boulder, Colo. Each of its three-day training sessions in Kalamazoo will draw a minimum of 15 participants from around the country.

Both of the wind-energy training enterprises will be based in labs in the M-TEC. Entegrity will make available the components of one of its de-commissioned, 50-kilowatt wind turbines -- like the one now up in the air at KVCC -- for its training purposes. The college will also be using that equipment for the one-year certificate program that KVCC will begin with the 2009 summer semester.

The KVCC program will be designed for those who want to explore careers as wind-energy technicians on commercial turbines that will serve municipalities, educational institutions, hospitals, and large businesses. 

The working model on the Texas Township Campus, which will be providing up to 15 percent of the electricity needed to power one wing of the college, will also be used when it comes time to test students’ ability to work at great heights in constrained quarters.

For more information, contact DeHaven at (269) 353-1280 or jdehaven@kvcc.edu.